March Madness was in the air at the Hudson County Schools of Technology’s (HCST) Frank J. Gargiulo campus in Secaucus recently as dozens of students who are part of the HCST County Prep High School Music Technology Program took to the stage to showcase their performance and technical skills.
The March 8 event included about 50 students, who treated a packed audience to their renditions of some familiar favorites as well as a number of original songs they created.
While many students focused on singing and playing instruments, others were behind the scenes, handling lighting, sound and other duties.
The music technology program is run out of HCST’s County Prep High School in Jersey City and there are over 100 students enrolled.
Hudson County Schools of Technology Music and Audio Technology Supervisor of Instruction Wilkis Figuereo says the program prepares students for a wide variety of careers ranging from audio engineer to performer. While many students do go on to college, others are able to get jobs in the industry right out of high school.
County Prep High School Junior Giovanni Cordova says the skills he’s learning are top notch and the reason he looks forward to coming to school.
County Prep High School Senior Emily Roda says she plans to major in music education in college and hopes to return to County Prep High School to teach and inspire other young people.
The March Madness concert is one of several that took place this year, but it’s the only one that was held at the Frank J. Gargiulo campus.
There are two more upcoming events before the school year is out. For more information, visit www.hcstonline.org.
